Columbia Records is enjoying its hottest week in years as Sony’s flagship label topped both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 albums charts this week thanks to country smashes with Ella Langley‘s “Choosin’ Texas” and Megan Moroney‘s Cloud 9, while Harry Styles is now on deck with one of the most-anticipated albums of the year as Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally finally released Friday.
Moroney’s chart-topper was the first number one opening for a country album from a female artist since fellow Columbia star Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter nearly two years ago. She’s just the 10th woman to top the Billboard 200 with a country album this century, the publication confirmed earlier this week. Cloud 9 opened with about 147,000 units. Langley, meanwhile has the biggest song in the country right now with “Choosin’ Texas” spending its second week at Number One after first topping the chart the week of February 14.
“While Ella and Megan are both having an incredible moment, they come from very different artistic perspectives,” Columbia CEO Ron Perry told THR in a statement, adding that they remain “intentional” about the artists they sign regardless of genre, noting that Langley and Moroney are the only two purely female country acts on the roster. “Ella brings a real edge to country and a southern rock energy to her music. Megan is an exceptional storyteller. Her songs are incredibly detailed and emotionally honest, and fans see themselves in those stories.”
Columbia has been one of the most-active coastal record labels more heavily embracing Nashville, between Langley (who is signed to Columbia through Sawgod) and Moroney (a partnership with Sony Music Nashville) along with genre-bending country-adjacent acts like Maren Morris, Lil Nas X, Koe Wetzl and Jessie Murph. As Columbia Records general manager Joe Gallo told THR last year of the coastal invasion of the past several years: “This has been bubbling for a long time.”
“The maturity of streaming and the reach of these platforms has allowed anyone to consume practically anything, which has brought country to a lot more people,”he said.
The coasts’ increased involvement with country came in no small part due to the success of Zach Bryan, who’s signed to LA-based Warner Records. He had a number one album of his own last month, moving 134,000 units week one with his sixth album With Heaven on Top.
With the week now wrapping, all attention now turns to Styles, who finally ended an extended hiatus with his fourth album Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally, which released Friday. The record’s lead single “Aperture” topped the hot 100 back in January. The album follow’s 2022’s Harry’s House, which featured the global smash “As It Was” and won the Grammy for album of the year in 2023. Styles’ fourth solo effort is one of the most heavily-anticipated albums in a year that already includes new music from stars like Bryan, Bruno Mars, A$AP Rocky and J. Cole.
Cole currently has the biggest opening of 2026 as The Fall-Off opened with over 280,000 units. Mars’ The Romantic could take that throne next week, marking the superstar’s first album in a decade. After that, the big chart question will be how Styles will fare. Harry’s House opened with over 500,000 week one units in 2022.